Professor Barashenkov received his MSc from the Moscow State University and a PhD in mathematical and theoretical physics from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. His research interests include nonlinear dynamics and theory of nonlinear waves, in particular solitary waves, localised patterns and vortices. Barashenkov's early research projects focussed on the so-called dark solitons.

After moving to UCT, he turned his attention to solitons in resonantly-forced dissipative systems. More recently he pioneered studies of the parity-time symmetry in nonlinear systems of optics and atomic physics. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (FRSSAf) and was awarded the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship in 2004.